UPDATE: of course i’ve taken some more shots with the gwc-1. you can find them here: https://dothob.wordpress.com/tag/gwc-1/
========= original post starts here >>>>
as i promised here are some more pictures taken with the panasonic gwc-1 wide angle conversion lens attached to the very nice panasonic lumix 14mm pancake. that combination amounts to a ff-equivalent focal length of 22mm and that’s pretty wide.
the pictures have been shot in prenzlauer berg and friedrichshain, berlin. some of the pictures are cross-processed but otherwise unchanged so you who might be interested in achievable shallowness of depth of field, corner sharpness and – oh yes – barrel distortion should get an impression of the capabilities of the converter by simply clicking on the pictures…
i failed at capturing the same scene with and without the gwc-1 attached, though. but if i get a request to do so, i will seriously consider doing it…
the gwc-1 is quite (and to me surprisingly) small and very light so it does only add neglectable bulk to the equipment. of course if you’re used to travel only with the 14mm pancake the gwc-1 will most likely double your load. but that’s about it.
corner sharpness?
some vignetting
shallow dof (quite close admittedly)
quite close (obviously)
barrel distortion? oh yesssss!
so these pictures should be enough for a first impression of the merits of the gwc-1. i think corner sharpness is acceptable though not great, vignetting is ok, achievable shallowness of dof is great (@f2.5 and reasonably close), barrel distortion is absolutely unacceptable for critical subjects but absolutely tolerable in most of (my) shooting circumstances.
but now for some more pictures…
beware!
harmonium
the twins (cropped, of course)
double decker chair
second hand portrait (flea market boxhagener platz)
empty fridge
bottom line: if you are looking for a moderately expensive wide angle solution for your micro four thirds camera, get a de-kitted 14mm pancake on ebay and try to get the gwc-1 somewhere. i think you won’t regret it. i definitely don’t.
thanks for reading! the nexts posts will be less technical again… but i thought i’d share my experience since there wasn’t much to find on the gwc-1.
but just in case you don’t trust me, trust john:
http://johntodaro.wordpress.com/2012/06/06/view-from-the-haerter-bridge-panasonic-wide-converter-dmw-gwc1/
.documenting.the.obvious 
Thanks for your thorough analysis on this new converter (it’s about time someone published one!)
If I’m not mistaken, the barrel distortion on your image is easily remedied by the following quick tweaks in P-shop:
Select: filter..lens correction..custom..remove distortion (slide to right). Further adjustments may be made for vertical convergence by selecting: transform–vertical perspective (slide to right…although, I sorta prefer it without).
The slight vignetting (which I suspect exists to some extent on the 14mm also) can be eradicated in the same dialogue box with the “vignette” sliders.
For the record, I much enjoy the vignetting on all your images! To me, on a view this wide it’s like bouquet to a fine wine. ;)
Peter
Would it be okay to link your post at my site?
also…
I made a mistake up there in the workflow–the vertical convergence slider for your barrel distortion image would go to the left, not the right (assuming you wanted to use it in the first place).
I love “The Twins” btw–reminds me of a still from Koyaanisqatsi
hi john, of course it’s okay. it would be my pleasure!
thanks for the compliment on the twins. i’ll have to recheck koyaanisqatsi then i think… ;)
hi john,
you are right of course regarding the barrel distortion. i should have mentioned that regular barrel distortion can be corrected quite easily in post. i tried this myself on the picture i’ve chosen to illustrate the matter but i failed to put it in the review. that might be because i tried this on another picture (not shown here) where the camera was not completely parallel to the subject and then the photoshop adjustments are not so easy (or let me paraphrase this: i was probably simply too dumb to do it correctly).
regarding the vignetting i am myself a fan of vignetting so that is not really a problem for me.
i like your wine analogy a lot ;)
I’ve linked you up on my most recent GWC1 post and updated some of the info about distortion/vignetting at my earlier posts. Thanks for the research!
Great images – i especially love the orange chair and the portrait among the files
Thank you very much, Tone! The chairs are a favourite of mine, too…
I too enjoy photographing the everyday commen. We pass these things daily without seeing their intrinsic beauty….well done!
hi chris, thank you for your friendly comment. the apparently obvious is not so obvious sometimes so it’s great that there are a lot of us shooting it ;)
!!!!!!
Very nice series of shots.
thank you very much!
love the orange! and your Berlin graffiti is better than in Edinburgh we are plagued by dull tagging.
thanks a lot. of course you can find dull tagging in berlin, too. but i won’t show it here ;)
very interesting shots!!!!congratulations…!!!
evcharisto, pavlos!
Cool shots ! Is it Berlin ? I’ve been there maybe around 10 times in the last 3 years, lovely city and great one for urban photography.
yup, berlin it is. and you are of course very right with your valuation of the city ;)
great post and shots — pancake lenses seem like the way to go, but without the syrup of course
:) i really love my pancakes. Yummy.
ha ha
😃 I like this a lot
thank you! i like your stuff, too ;)
😊 thank you ✨